Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal: Reviewing Their Recent Disputes

Its been the main draw in tennis news for the last few days, overshadowing at times even some of the real tennis that's been going on. But why not? It isn't often that we find hostility in the Federer-Nadal rivalry, one of the most placid in decades.

Federer cares only for himself, claims Nadal, and he does so without doing anything for the other players. What's more, he gets away looking all the part of a gentleman. He'll probably end his career just the rose he began as, while everyone else looks half a century older—thus the Spaniard's rhetoric of resent.

We came out of it mostly convinced that Federer has been, as we had perhaps suspected, the cocky supercilious tennis council president behind closed doors. Perhaps this was just that breach in faith, that crucial infelicity that would rock up what had been one of tennis' most majestic and princely of rivalries—one that hardly had had any hostile bits in it.

It isn't exactly the first time, though—although the last was in 2006, when Federer accused Nadal of cheating in the Rome final when he glanced one too many times at his player's box. Its just something that is bound to happen when someone knows someone long enough.

Besides, Federer reminded us quite sharply of the largely overblown proportions this supposed undercover "argument" has attained at his Monday presser.

Disagreements are bound to occur, I just have my own opinion on things. Tennis is going through a golden period now—its great to have increasing dialogue between the players. To some he might have sounded just like a nation in eastern Europe in recent years. Maybe that is how Federer, so long the one man tennis show, might see the sport—something that is going through an "opening-up" phase.

At any rate, Federer's diplomatic demeanour then doesn't entirely deviate from the issues at hand.

First of all, it isn't as if nothing has been done about the tour—the ATP dramatically ended the season some few weeks earlier than before, and it isn't as if it's Federer vs everyone else (doesn't that have a ring of familiarity about it). The cries for reform have been noticeable, mainly for the high profile of those who have advocated them—Nadal, Murray (who wanted a strike last year), and even Djokovic being among them.

At the heart of the issue, however, is the changing face of tennis. The sport has gradually come to be dominated by physically imposing players, who take that aspect of fitness maintenance and preparation seriously enough that they feel they should not have to compensate for this in their results on tour.

The tough, drudging work of becoming a top pro demands longer breaks, or at least, more recovery time from injuries. At any rate, Federer isn't entirely right to say that everything is all as rosy as he thinks it to be, neither is Nadal correct to claim that the current tennis season will shorten careers.

More interesting and of short notice, however, is whether this recent spate of verbiage is likely to spice up their rivalry. More likely, one feels, it isn't—it has after all thrived on the pleasantries and cuddly respect between the two. It's good that its only been at a verbal level—that way tennis isn't likely to suffer.